Ocean Township soldier dies in Iraq

OCEAN — Spc. Stanley J. Sokolowski of Ocean Township has died of injuries from a non-combat related incident in Kirkuk, Iraq, the Department of Defense has announced.

Sokolowski, 26, was assigned to Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. From her township home, Christie Sokolowski recalled her son as a “humanitarian and someone who always fought for justice.”

“He trusted everybody,” Sokolowski said this morning. “He took everybody at their word. He was just a great kid.”

Sokolowski graduated Ocean Township High School in 2002. He had volunteered for different fire and first aid squads in Long Branch, West Long Branch and Oakhurst. He also worked as a lifeguard in different area pools and briefly at the Red Bank Animal Hospital.

Christie Sokolowski said her son joined the military in August, 2007 to better his chances of becoming a full-time firefighter upon completion of his duties. He was in the midst of his second tour in Iraq, scheduled to return in November.

The Pentagon statement gave no information of the nature of the incident that led to Sokolowski’s death. His mother declined to comment on the cause of death.

Surviving are his mother and father, Stanley Sokolowski II, and two brothers, Todd Gregory of Ocean Township and Kyle Sokolowski of Florida.